TRENTON – As the city continues its efforts against what officials called the “quiet crisis” of domestic violence, Mayor Tony Mack on Thursday swore in new members of the city’s Domestic and Sexual Violence Commission.

The commission was formed after a series of fatal domestic violence cases in the city in 2009, and includes members from the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office and the Pan-Hellenic council. The group is tasked to engage organizations throughout the city to bring about “the long-term cultural change necessary to reject violence,” according to an executive order Mack signed.

Mack said the need for this effort was underscored by a incident early Wednesday that left a 17-year-old girl in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the stomach. Her boyfriend told police a gun accidentally discharged during a dispute, authorities have said.

“Let me remind you of the grim reality of domestic violence,” Mack said. “While it’s still inconclusive whether it was an accident or not, we do know the two were having an argument, and the loaded gun was fired.”

Karl Poyau, 20, has been charged with aggravated assault, weapons offenses, and receiving stolen property for the gun allegedly used in the shooting.

For city police, arrests like Poyau’s are not rare.

“One-thousand, seven-hundred incidents of domestic violence were conducted in the city of Trenton in 2010,” acting Police Director Joseph Juniak said. “We respond on a daily basis to people’s homes. We’re the first responders, and we see the effect domestic violence has on a family, and on children.”

Police began a crackdown on domestic violence after eight cases that led to homicides in 2009. Officers received new training in handling domestic violence cases and were encouraged to sign criminal complaints if victims were afraid to do so.

Juniak said the department has done a “great job” since 2009 addressing domestic violence cases, “but we need to do more.”

The city did not have any fatal domestic violence incidents in 2010 and has not had any in the first months of this year, he said. Trenton police began tracking domestic violators during monthly meetings to identify trends in cases, similar to the weekly Comstat meetings that address crime throughout the city.

For example, Trenton police had nearly 200 domestic violence calls in January 2009 and 54 percent of those cases led to an arrest or warrant issued. In January 2010, the department had 135 domestic violence calls and 80 percent led to arrests or warrants, according to police statistics. Requests for temporary restraining orders also increased after the department began its crackdown.

The swearing-in ceremony Thursday “reestablished” the domestic violence commission, which was created in November 2009 but never really got off the ground, Mack said.

The leaders of Womanspace, an advocacy group for female victims of domestic violence, and Children’s Futures, a Trenton-based non-profit group, started meeting last year to get the commission underway.

“At the first meetings, we wanted to do everything, and you can’t do everything,” said Pat Hart, head of Womanspace.

With the full commission including state, county, and local organizations, the commission will have the reach to fight against domestic violence anywhere, Hart said.

“So if you want to do an event in the school, it helps to have a connection in the school,” Hart said.